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Fujitsu will release its first Transmeta-based notebooks next month - the second PC company to announce officially product based on the chip company's Crusoe CPU. That announcement will take place later today.

The Japanese company will offer two Crusoe-powered notebooks: the Biblio Loox S and the Biblio Loox T, both aimed solely at the Japanese market. Both machines are designed as portable wireless Net access terminals, through plug-in wireless connectivity cards.

The two machines are due to ship in November for around ¥160,000 ($1481) and ¥210,000 ($1944), respectively.

"With Crusoe installed we can make battery life longer and at the same time we can make notebooks lighter," said Fujitsu executive VP Tadayasu Sugita. The company said the two machines will weigh in at 2.2 pounds and 3.3 pounds, respectively (the Loox T contains a DVD drive), and offer a battery life of up to eight hours, seven in the case of the Loox T.

Fujitsu's announcement follows Sony's decision to ship a sub-notebook based on Crusoe next month. They are the only companies to announce specific products that use Transmeta's chips, but both IBM and Hitachi have confirmed they plan to release Crusoe-equipped machines. ®